Wildlife face unprecedented hardships, notably in California. Contemplating habitat loss from steady city sprawl, leisure looking, catastrophic wildfires, and record-breaking droughts, it’s extra essential than ever that we now have a powerful understanding of what our wildlife populations are in order that we will adequately monitor which of them may be in bother and implement options.
That is the central problem being thought-about in a petition pending earlier than the California Fish and Game Commission. Submitted by the Humane Society of the United States, the petition asks the fee to position a moratorium on the state’s annual bear looking season till our wildlife company, the Division of Fish and Wildlife, can formally research the inhabitants and assess the results that drought, wildfire, and different climate-related occasions have on bears’ survival.
At the moment, DFW permits hunters to kill as much as 1,700 bears yearly in our state. Nonetheless, regardless of document numbers of bear hunters, the variety of bears really killed annually is on a downward trajectory. Whereas this feels like excellent news for bears, it may really be indicative of a possible inhabitants decline.
In DFW’s most lately revealed “Bear Take Report,” the company states that their 2020 estimated bear inhabitants is roughly 9,700-22,000 — a big lower from the beforehand reported 30,000-40,000 estimate the company had marketed. Moreover, this determine is calculated utilizing a inhabitants mannequin that didn’t make the most of field-based scientific research.
We’re presently experiencing the worst megadrought in more than 1,200 years — and scientists consider it’s going to proceed. In 2021 alone, a document 3 million acres burned in California, together with in previous development forests — due to historic gas construct up from many years of fireplace suppression.
Gas build-up coupled with hotter, drier summers resulted in extreme fires that even scorched soils, a lot of which was very important bear habitat and journey corridors. Ravenous bears, notably moms with cubs, have been struck on roadways final 12 months in document numbers.
The discrepancy in inhabitants numbers is exactly why the moratorium on the bear hunt is so obligatory. If bear populations have been steady, and even growing as some declare, document numbers of hunters would logically result in elevated numbers of bears killed. As a result of the precise reverse is going on, science and the precautionary precept inform us we should step again and check out what’s occurring earlier than persevering with to permit tons of of bears to be killed for recreation.
DFW should conduct a complete statewide inhabitants research, utilizing the most effective accessible science. And the dire threats from the local weather disaster should be factored in as nicely.
Using this precautionary strategy comes with minimal threat, and heavy payoff if we will guarantee our wildlife — particularly on this case, bear — populations aren’t in bother. The identical can’t be stated for the choice.
Bears are terribly sluggish to breed. Moms don’t start to have cubs till they’re roughly 4-5 years previous, after which give start solely each 2-3 years as a result of they spend extended intervals of time elevating their cubs.
Due to this, they’re extremely vulnerable to overkill as they are often killed in numbers far higher than they will make up for with new births and migrating animals. Bears have already disappeared from about 70% of their historic vary due to people.
For many “sport” species (i.e., wildlife who will be legally hunted) in California, DFW places collectively complete administration plans that present a wide range of data together with the inhabitants standing of the species, the standing of their habitat, sources of mortality, and so forth. But California has not up to date their Black Bear Management Plan in additional than 20 years.
Why has the company waited so lengthy to replace its plan? And why is it persevering with to kill greater than 1,000 bears yearly with out updating the science behind the plan?
In mild of this, it’s merely ludicrous to hold on with “enterprise as common,” with out doing the work to collect the entire data we’d like. We will’t simply bury our heads within the sand in the case of long-lasting impacts to any species — particularly not with such crucial ecosystem actors as bears.
I strongly urge the fee to grant the petition that may place a obligatory pause on leisure bear looking till — on the very least — DFW research the bear inhabitants, updates their decades-old administration plan, and the results of drought and up to date wildfires on our bears are adequately assessed.
Mission Valley resident Kym Bower is a humane coverage volunteer chief for the Humane Society of the US.
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